


Paradis Ou Enfer

by orionmarinos



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Character Study, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 11:00:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17079065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orionmarinos/pseuds/orionmarinos
Summary: At the end of his life Jean Valjean contemplates all its pains and blessings.





	Paradis Ou Enfer

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written on January 10, 2017 for English class.

I am 24601, Father Madeline, Fauchelevant, but it all started Jean Valjean. I once had a family, my sister and her children. I had to take many odd jobs to take care of them, yet we were still poor. It was hard to get by, and one winter we had no food to speak of. The little ones were starving, I had to get some food, and I did, through a baker’s window. I was sent to the galleys, five years was my sentence for the bread, and I thought I deserved this.

They stripped me of my name and gave me a number, 24601 they called me. They have given me other names too: thief, scoundrel, wretch of the earth, they were right. I experienced hell like no other there, I was beaten, whipped, ridiculed, chained, I became a slave and I deserved this. Worried for my family, I tried to run like a fool, but I just added more years to my hell. I had nineteen years in hell, nineteen years to think: did I deserve this? Was this my fault alone? I was so fed up with the lies society - who abandoned me with no mercy - has been shoving down my throat. I could say the galleys truly changed me, from a human who felt pain, broken down into this monster that’s numb. My hatred was my weapon against the cruelty of society. And one day, at last the chains were released, but I was not free, I was never really free. I was still ridiculed, feared of in the streets, until I met a man of God who showed me the light with his mercy and his care. Bishop Myriel was his name, he showed me how to forgive, he called me brother. I changed again into Monsieur le Maire Madeleine in M- sur m-. As the kind, generous, and forgiving mayor I met a lady named Fantine, and I saw myself in her suffering. She had a daughter, her world, who she sacrificed everything for. I decided to help her, to find her child, but she died before seeing her precious Cosette. I still looked for her since her dying wish was, essentially, for her to be taken care of.

They say _“To love another person is to see the face of God,”_ and I saw it through my dear Cosette, who for her I became, Ultime Fauchelevant. Through her I have found love, the love of a father. My heart now beats, I can feel, I am human again. My eyes can now see the beauty of this world. The past is far behind me but I still fear that it will come back eventually but not to hurt me, but to hurt her. I did my best to care for her, to keep her safe and happy. She has found her happiness in a man named Marius, a man I once hated but my daughter still loved him, so I let her go. I have found happiness, love, and God, and now looking at the nameless tombstone, I am finally free.


End file.
